Parade chair tradition under scrutiny

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 5:31 PM

By Susan Latham CarrStaff writer

If you staked out your territory along the Ocala/Marion County Christmas Parade route by planting a chair in your favorite viewing spot before this morning, the city of Ocala may have taken it away. The city has not, however, pulled up any stakes or taken down tape erected to mark one's space.

The parade, with the theme “A Frosty White Christmas,” begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, traveling from the McPherson Governmental Complex west on Silver Springs Boulevard, ending at Southeast Eighth Avenue.

Setting chairs out to save a good spot to view the annual parade is a long-standing tradition and there seems to be an unwritten rule that no one disturbs the chairs or the tape and ropes that people string up to mark their site. On occasion, a scofflaw sneaks in and moves a chair, but not often.

As the parade date approaches, more and more places are cordoned off and all manner of chairs begin appearing along Southeast 25th Avenue and down East Silver Springs Boulevard the length of the parade route. The chairs, some tilted forward to keep rain from puddling on them or covered with blankets or plastic to protect them from the weather, may look odd to visitors or people passing through town, but it is perfectly normal for locals, who have come to expect the chairs just as they expect holiday lights.

“From Wednesday on, they can have them out,” Catherine Cameron, assistant city manager of public services, said about the chairs. “It's a safety issue.”

She said if someone knocks a chair into the street or a storm kicks up and blows the chairs into the street it could be dangerous for drivers. She said the chairs also could block driver visibility at the street corners or at entrances or exits to parking lots.

If you did put your chair out before this morning and it is now missing, you may retrieve it at Public Works' traffic division at the city complex, 1805 NE 30th Ave., north of Southeast 14th Street, Cameron said.

“We don't want to ruin anybody's fun. It's just a matter of public safety,” Cameron said. “It's just one more thing we have to look out for.”

This is the second year the city has begun collecting chairs before the event. But why did the chairs suddenly become safe to set out on Wednesday, when they were not safe to put out before then?

“It started getting earlier and earlier people were putting them out. At some point you have to draw the line for public safety,” Cameron said. “We don't want to stop the practice. It's just the resources we have are limited to monitor it and make sure it's not a safety hazard.”

Cameron said Tuesday she did not know how many chairs the city had removed. She said starting today, the city will continue to monitor the chairs for any safety issues.

Bob Strausser strung some yellow clothesline Monday in front of the CVS drugstore at the corner of Southeast 25th Avenue and Silver Springs Boulevard.

“I was going to bring chairs today like I usually do, but my wife said don't do it, so I didn't,” Strausser said.

He said his wife had heard the city was going to take the chairs away so he called his friends who had put chairs out and told them to pick them up.

“I didn't want them to be confiscated,” Strausser said.

Strausser has lived in Ocala 21 years and said his family members and friends go each year to the parade. They bring snacks and buy hot chocolate and donuts.

“I think there will be 23 of us,” Strausser said.

His children have grown and now there are grandchildren, and their friends' families have grown, too.

“Our family has just really enjoyed it,” Strausser said. “We make a day of it.”